Behold: Eataly

Chef Mario Batali has built quite the empire around himself (and his orange Crocs). The Batali juggernaut now includes several of the country's best restaurants, a smattering of cookbooks and TV shows, and a literacy foundation for children (not to mention a close personal friendship with Gwyneth Paltrow). But until now, the food phenom lacked a true headquarters; a place to display and celebrate the beautiful foodstuffs and raw materials that go into creating his inventive Piedmontese dishes--and to help others learn to cook the Batali way. So it is with great fanfare that the chef throws open the doors of Eataly, a new marketplace bonanza opening this week in Manhattan's chic Flatiron District. Clocking in at 42,500 square feet (with a 4,500 rooftop beer garden to boot), the food and wine emporium will be the largest artisanal Italian goods purveyor in the world. Clearly, Batali knows how to make an entrance.

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The market (which also includes an on-site bookstore) opened with Batali's longtime partners Joe and Lidia Bastianich (and Italian investor Oscar Farinetti), features a who's who of New York and Italy's top food personalities. Heading up the charcuterie selection are famed New York butcher Pat LaFrieda (who provides the excellent burgers found at the nearby Shake Shack) and Sergio Capaldo, founder of the Razza Piemontese Consortium, and a leader in the Italian slow food movement. Even Batali's father, a longtime Seattle meat purveyor, is getting in on the act, flying in his famous salumi from the West Coast. Chef David Pasternack (of the beloved Midtown seafood spot Esca) is manning the fish station, while Marco Michelis, a young chef shipped in straight from Torino, will be serving up gnocchi, orecchiette, and other fresh pastas daily.

With fashion week crowds descending on the city and hordes of downtown workers looking for a new lunch spot, Eataly (and its seven food court-style interior restaurants) will be no doubt be packed almost immediately. We say cram in, grab some olives and fresh mozzarella from the in-house cheese "laboratorio," and a round of rustic bread fresh from the wood-burning oven, and have an early autumn picnic—if you're lucky, Mario (in his neon footwear) will pull up a chair. Also be sure to hit up performance artist Jennifer Rubell's "vegetable butcher" station, where one can learn how to julienne and dice anything (or have your veggies cleaned and prepped for you), and for wine lovers, the vino section will carry over 1,000 bottles. Salute!